Arkia employees seek rival investor after Yariv Lerner joins Nakash group

Arkia's employee trust accuses Yariv Lerner of joining the Nakash brothers' investor group without notice, after signing a memorandum of understanding. The trust has two business days to find an alternative investor to counter a $45 million deal for control of the airline.

The battle for the future of airline Arkia is getting complicated: the workers' corporation Tovt claims that Yariv Lerner, who had advanced with it to a memorandum of understanding, joined the Nekash brothers' investor group without updating it. In an update sent by the Tovt board to the workers, it was alleged that the group recruited by the corporation, which included Lerner, Avi Elkayam, and George Voror, exchanged advanced draft agreements with the Nekash group, but on the eve of the last board meeting it became clear that Lerner had joined another group on behalf of Nekash. Now the workers have only two days left to find an alternative investor on identical terms. In the background is the deal to inject $45 million into Arkia, including $30 million from the buyers, $8.5 million from the Nekash brothers, and $7.8 million from the state. After the deal, the Nekash brothers will hold 3% of the company's shares, while the workers currently hold 22%.